


Nomenclature

by Purna



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-17
Updated: 2014-07-17
Packaged: 2018-02-09 07:44:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1974636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purna/pseuds/Purna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He looks no different.  A coda to the episode "Common Ground."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nomenclature

John stands shirtless at the mirror. His fingers explore the skin of his chest, smooth where it should be scarred. There is no sign that he was fed on -- that he fed _from_ \-- nothing to show what happened.

He is marked in other ways. There is a place in his head, filled with swirls of color and alien harmonies. He knows that now, and he can't even bring himself to regret his knowledge.

He knows, and that marks him, and he almost wishes he could feel the proof of that mark on his chest.

Instead, there is smooth skin beneath his fingers. No visible marks, nothing to remind him of what happened. Except that he's here, alone in his quarters, while the rest of his team is offworld.

*

"We trade only with those we trust," Nioli, the Kenshini representative, says in a soft voice. Her hands are tucked demurely in the folds of her robe, but her expression is flat and her eyes are sharp and demanding.

"We're trustworthy," John says with his best smile, but her lips tighten in response.

"It is traditional --"

"Let me guess, there's a ceremony." Rodney sounds amused and tolerant, rather than mocking, but Teyla shushes him.

"Rodney!"

"There is no ceremony," Nioli says. "You will meet with our _asha_. She will determine if you are trustworthy."

"Sounds easy enough," John drawls, trying to calm the first stirrings of unease in his gut.

They're led inside a low building.

"It's like meeting your girlfriend's mother," Rodney whispers nervously as they wait for the _asha_ to see them.

"That's good. Mothers always love me," John whispers back.

Rodney shoots him a quelling look. "Glad that works out for you, Sheppard. As for me? Strangely, not so much."

Ronon raises a hand in warning, and they fall silent a second before the representative returns. "She will see you now," she says, gesturing them towards a door.

The _asha_ turns out to be both much younger and much less intimidating than John was expecting. She's tall and gawky, and looks all of sixteen. Most of the tension leaches from his shoulders as he takes in her open, freckled face.

"Hello," she says, her shoulders hunched. John remembers standing like that, right after his big growth spurt when he wasn't quite used to his new height. He resists the urge to tell her to stand up straight; he is _so_ not turning into his dad that way.

She puts a hand to her chest. "I'm Sura. I will take your hands in mine. It won't hurt and will only take a second." It sounds like a rote speech, something she's repeated many times.

Teyla steps forward first, and it's exactly as Sura described. Sura holds Teyla's hands and closes her eyes for a moment. When she releases Teyla's hands, Sura is smiling.

Rodney goes next, and it's pretty much the same. This time Sura looks a little bemused when she steps back, but she manages to nod and smile.

Sura's face is solemn when she steps away from Ronon, but she nods again.

Then it's John's turn. Sura's hands are sweaty in his, and the sound of the breeze is in his ears, like a whisper only half-heard, only it gets louder and louder.

"What?" Sura gasps, and before John can stop her, she's pulled a hand loose and has placed it on his chest, like a feeding Wraith.

"No, don't," he says, and he's only vaguely aware that Ronon is growling, and Teyla is holding him back.

Words -- he hears words then, but there's an echo in his head. The sound of them rings in his ears and in his head at the same time, and he knows they're Sura's.

"He took from you, and it hurt. Nothing left, sucked dry, so dry, and, oh, sweet Mother. It hurt so much. Hurt like nothing you ever felt before and then -- you died, but you were reborn."

John tries to struggle, but her grip is like iron, and she keeps talking. "Reborn, and that felt...good. Really, really good."

Her eyes pop open, and John feels her blush as much as he sees it color her cheeks. Her eyes are wide and she's staring at him, her expression twisting in disgust. "You thought it felt like orgasm, only better. And he gave you life, and he gave you his name. It was blue. So blue, and there was music --"

"Stop! Stop, you're hurting him. That's private." It's Rodney's voice, shaking with anger, and then Rodney's shoving her away.

When her hands leave his, John's legs give way. He slides down to his knees, and only Teyla's hand on his shoulder keeps him from doing a face plant on the polished wood floor.

"It is forbidden." Sura's horrified whisper gives way to a gasped sob.

He hears running feet, and then Nioli is looming over him. She makes a complicated hand gesture at him, something that makes Ronon hiss out a word John's never heard him use before.

Nioli points at John without looking at him. "That one does not exist to us. We do not bargain with Wraith worshippers."

"He is no Wraith worshipper." Ronon's voice is low and very dangerous. "On my oath."

With Teyla's help, John manages to push himself up off the floor. "I'll leave," he offers, and Rodney instantly shakes his head.

"No way. These superstitious assholes can shove it --"

"Shut up, Rodney," John says. "We need their goodwill. You guys passed their test. Maybe you can salvage something here if I'm not here. I'll go back through the gate."

Teyla gives him a stubborn frown. Ronon looks thunderous, and Rodney just looks pale, stricken.

"That's an order," he adds.

Teyla's expression changes to one more thoughtful. "Without their kura bark, Dr. Beckett cannot make more medicine. He will not be able to treat the sickness Major Lorne's team brought back through the gate."

Rodney takes a deep breath. "As much as it pains me to say it, we need them too much to just leave." He glances at John. "I'll help you back to the gate and then come back. You look like crap."

John's about to protest, but he really does feel like crap. He shrugs. "Fine."

*

John stares in the mirror. His team is back on Kenshin, trying to repair the damage he's caused to the negotiations, but he is here.

He looks no different. It's as if Kolya never captured him, as if he never had to be Wraith food.

There is no mark on his chest, but he feels different nonetheless.

The Wraith gift isn't just the gift of life: there's a Wraith name trapped inside his head. Sometimes it burns, and he tastes an alien hunger.

He knows things now. He understands things.

Trapped on the hive ship, after Ford's disastrous mission, he hadn't understood Neera's choice. It was insane and disgusting and unthinkable to worship the Wraith.

It doesn't seem so crazy now. Now he thinks he might just understand.

There's a Wraith name in his head, and it's blue and beautiful and makes him think of his mother singing a lullaby. The Wraith gift is the gift of life. The Wraith gift is the gift of pleasure. The gift of a name.

He traces the unmarked skin of his chest. He looks no different.


End file.
